


fool me three times, fuck the peace signs

by annadream



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Crossdressing, Gen, Leverage AU, Mild Language, Minor Violence, mild MyungYeol, mild WooGyu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-21 10:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annadream/pseuds/annadream
Summary: “You’ve never stolen anything from anyone who didn’t have it coming. And you’re the best thief I’ve ever seen. You owing me a favor could come in handy some day.” The wry, bitter expression on Sunggyu’s face made it seem like some day would be sooner rather than later.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Sungyeol met Woohyun, neither of them had been themselves. Sungyeol had been Ricky Park, senior account manager with a wife and two kids, a cat allergy and a weakness for whiskey, out for drinks with his boss. Woohyun had been the new bartender at their local watering hole. Of course, the false identities meant little because even though it was their first time meeting in person, they already knew each other by reputation. The world of crime wasn’t exactly a large one.

“This one is mine,” Sungyeol hissed across the counter when his mark — his boss — left to use the restroom. “I’ve been working this job for three months, so fuck off.”

“That long?” Woohyun tsked, making a show of wiping down the bar. His disarming, ‘I’m just a goofy bartender’ smile faded and was replaced by a challenging smirk. “And you still haven’t sealed the deal? Ricky, Ricky, Ricky.”

Sungyeol scowled, but he wasn’t going to back down. Woohyun may be one of the shiftiest grifters in the business, but Sungyeol certainly wasn’t scared of him. And anyway, he was sure Woohyun wouldn’t have been able to do any better. His mark was ridiculously paranoid and old fashioned and no easy breezy bartender would succeed where Sungyeol hadn’t yet.

“Want me to help you out? I’ll do it for a cut. Say…seventy percent?”

Sungyeol sputtered; Ricky hastily took off his glasses and polished the lenses, as was his habit when he was annoyed. “How about you fuck off, I keep everything and forget I ever met you?”

“Hmm.” Woohyun grabbed an incoming drink ticket and started down the bar. “Don’t say I didn’t offer…”

Sungyeol snorted and put his glasses back on just as his boss returned.

“Next round’s on me, isn’t it?”

Ricky straightened his shoulders and beamed. “You’re the boss.”

—

In the end, neither Woohyun nor Sungyeol managed to finish the job. While the two had been jostling for position, Sungjong had swept in and cleared off with everything.

“I’m really sorry,” Myungsoo apologized after Sungyeol stormed over to throttle his best friend. Not that he could really throttle Myungsoo — the kid was solid muscle, despite spending most of his days in front of a computer screen. And besides, if Myungsoo were gone who would make all of Sungyeol’s fake IDs?

“We were just having coffee and I mentioned what you were up to and…” Myungsoo shrugged. “You know how Sungjong likes a challenge.”

“I can't believe he even took the lost Manet” Sungyeol groaned. “Sungjong doesn't even like paintings! And all you managed to salvage was a measley fifty grand. That's months of my life I'm never getting back.”

Sungyeol flopped down on his friend’s bed and rolled around for a bit to rumple the blankets, just because he knew it would irritate Myungsoo. It made him feel slightly better.

Myungsoo was watching him with a darkening expression, but chose instead to mention Woohyun. “What’s he like?”

“He’s a jerk,” Sungyeol said immediately. “Cocky, impulsive, and super annoying. Be glad you didn’t have to deal with him at all.”

“Oh…” Myungsoo carefully turned so he was facing his laptop once more.

“What, oh?” Sungyeol sat up, glaring suspiciously at his friend’s back. “Oh?”

“Well, Sunggyu-hyung called, and he said he’s putting together a crew for something big, and he asked if we want to join,” Myungsoo said slowly. “He’s also asked Hoya and…Woohyun…”

“But whyyyyyyyy.” Sungyeol, who had been perking up at the possibility of working with devious mastermind Kim Sunggyu, felt somehow betrayed. “Why does he need TWO grifters, I’m like ten times better than Woohyun.”

Myungsoo wisely chose not to dispute that. Personally, he had nothing against Woohyun. He’d heard the stories and he’d always thought Woohyun was probably just as good as Sungyeol. They just had different methods. But arguing with Sungyeol when he was in one of his moods was not only pointless, it wasn’t even fun.

“So I’ll tell him no?”

“No! I mean, don’t tell him no.” Sungyeol sighed, rolling on to his stomach. Sungyeol had his pride, but he was no fool. Working with Sunggyu would be an amazing opportunity. He'd never have to waste so much time for so little payoff ever again. “Tell him…tell him we want to meet and find out more.”

Myungsoo grinned. “That’s good, because we’re meeting him tomorrow at 10.”

Sungyeol threw a pillow at his head.

—

The best part about taking a job with Dongwoo was getting to watch the man work. Howon had always found competency extremely attractive, and Dongwoo wasn’t just competent, he was an artist. It wasn’t every day Howon could watch someone take down a room full of former KGB thugs with nothing but his fists and a baby slung across his back. Dongwoo had barely broken a sweat and the baby had, of all things, fallen asleep in the middle of the fight.

Howon had to refrain from letting out a sigh of pure admiration as he walked over to Dongwoo. It really wouldn’t be appropriate as they were still in the middle of the job. Dongwoo was grinning, breathing deep from exertion. They both turned to the man cowering in the corner.

“We’re leaving now,” Dongwoo announced. “But I want you to really think about what you’ve done. Kidnapping babies is never the right thing to do.”

The man in the corner gave a noncommittal grunt. Dongwoo frowned slightly, but Howon gently nudged him towards the door. He was always happy to play bad cop to Dongwoo’s good. And besides, Dongwoo had the baby.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

Dongwoo caught his gaze and nodded. He shifted the sling so that the infant was resting against his chest — the baby, still sleeping, made a soft snuffling sound — and started out of the room. Howon waited a few seconds to make sure they were out of earshot. It wouldn’t do if the man’s screaming woke the baby.

Then Howon stalked over to the man in the corner, yanked one of his arms over his head and rammed a knife through his hand, pinning it to the wall. The man howled. Howon silenced him by grabbing his throat in a vise-like grip.

“He’s nice,” Howon said, the sound of his voice a quiet threat. “I’m not. So no more kidnapping children, because I’ll know. And I’ll find you and make sure you don’t get another chance to regret it.”

The man let out a ragged sob, cringing back into the wall as best he could as Howon released him. Howon took that as acquiescence and jogged out of the room. Not a single remaining guard appeared to stop him as he left the house. Perhaps they knew better than to try.

Howon caught up to Dongwoo in the courtyard. Under the moonlight, he noticed a small smear of blood on Dongwoo’s cheek that hadn’t been there earlier. Perhaps no one had come to stop Howon because they’d tried to stop Dongwoo first.

“That’s not yours, is it?” Howon asked, brows lifting in question. Dongwoo reached up and touched his face, looking a little guilty when his fingers came back dark and wet.

Still, he shrugged as he replied, voice nonchalant, “Nope.”

One of Howon’s overly sharp canines glinted in a slight grin. People always underestimated Dongwoo because he was ‘the nice one.’ But just because Dongwoo didn’t like to hurt people didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

Dongwoo hastily wiped his hand on his pant leg. “Come on, let’s get this little guy home to Mommy and Daddy.”

On the drive back — the baby was safely tucked away in the rear-facing car seat Dongwoo had insisted they bring along — Howon finally broached the topic he’d been thinking about the whole night.

“Hey…what do you think about joining a team?”

Dongwoo glanced over at him. “I haven’t really thought about it. Why, are you starting a crew?”

“Not me.” Howon shook his head. “This guy I know, Sunggyu. He’s putting some people together and he asked if I was interested. And I thought, since we work pretty well together…”

“Yeah, we do.” Dongwoo’s grin flashed in and out as they passed through pools of streetlights. “But does Sunggyu need two hitters?”

“If you’re interested, I’d ask him.”

“Hmm.” Dongwoo kept his eyes on the road, his gaze thoughtful. Howon found himself holding his breath. He’d understand if Dongwoo said no. They’d both been solo operators for a long time. But Howon couldn’t pretend he wouldn’t be disappointed. He really, really liked working with Dongwoo.

Dongwoo drummed his fingers against the steering wheel a few times, then turned and beamed at Howon.

“Sure, why not? No harm in asking, right?”

Howon smiled back, not even bothering to hide his relieved chuckle. “Right.”

—

Sungjong knew he had a problem. He hadn’t turned to a life of crime because of dire circumstances. He had loving, wonderful parents whom he regularly called, he had a great little brother he unfailing sent an allowance to every month, and his childhood had been fairly unremarkable. There was no real defining moment that made Sungjong decide to be a professional thief. He just really, really liked to steal things.

The more difficult something was to steal, the better. For Sungjong, it was less about how much a job paid and more about what tactics he had to employ. Half the time, after he’d stolen something of worth, he’d figure out a way to put it back — usually after people had noticed the item was missing, which made it infinitely more challenging and fun. The other half of the time — the times Sungjong kept the pay off because his hobby didn’t exactly fund itself — he’d only steal from people whom he knew deserved it. The rich assholes of the world who used their wealth to make life miserable for others, they could always stand to be taken down a peg or two (or a few million).

Sungjong knew that if he ever sat down with a therapist, he’d probably be diagnosed a kleptomaniac. But he was okay with that. He had his disorder under control.

He didn’t think Kim Sunggyu would also see it that way.

Sunggyu was the only person who had ever been able to catch Sungjong in the act. It was in Brussels a few years back, while Sunggyu was making a name for himself as an investigator. He’d somehow figured out Sungjong’s second target in the midst of an open case and Sungjong, being young and stubborn, had refused to back down. But no matter how he’d tried — no matter how he had deviated from his usual modus operandi, Sunggyu had stayed ten steps ahead of him.

_“Relax,” Sunggyu said with a casual wave. He tapped out the code that shut off the basement vault’s security alarm. “Take the cash. This guy’s not even going to miss it. But you’ll put the statue back, right?”_

_Sungjong hefted the backpack stuffed with money onto his shoulder and shot the investigator a skeptical look. “I was planning to. But you’re seriously just going to let me walk?”_

_“You’ve never stolen anything from anyone who didn’t have it coming. And you’re the best thief I’ve ever seen. You owing me a favor could come in handy some day.” The wry, bitter expression on Sunggyu’s face made it seem like some day would be sooner rather than later. But Sungjong didn’t care enough to overthink it._

_“What makes you think I’d honor this favor?”_

_Sunggyu just smiled cryptically. “I’ll tell you. When I call it in.”_

_Sungjong rolled his eyes and backed slowly towards the vent. “Whatever, grandpa.”_

_That finally got a more interesting reaction out of Sunggyu, who spluttered and glared. “I’m only like five years older than you, you brat!”_

_Sungjong’s laughter echoed back through the cold air duct._

It seemed time hadn’t changed Sunggyu’s ability to stay ahead of Sungjong. Sungjong had dummy addresses littered across the globe, and yet the ex-investigator had shown up at the one place Sungjong still truly considered home.

“I cannot believe you had tea with my mom,” Sungjong hissed through clenched teeth as he unceremoniously shoved Sunggyu out the door. He wasn’t sure if he was more angry or horrified.

“She’s a lovely woman,” Sunggyu said while calmly pulling on his coat. His face creased in a cute innocent smile that charmed the unsuspecting. Sungjong only scowled fiercely back.

“Relax. I would never dream of putting your family in any danger. I was just…curious. And a little jealous,” Sunggyu admitted. His smile faded and was replaced with a soft, haunted expression. “I’d give anything to have a family as happy as yours.”

Sungjong said nothing and crossed his arms. He didn’t know all of Sunggyu’s backstory, but he had enough sense to know now wasn’t the time to ask.

“Anyway. I’ll see you in Tokyo?”

“What will you do if I don’t show up?”

“Find someone else.” Sunggyu shrugged. “Someone not as good as you.”

Sungjong eyed Sunggyu for a long measure, then finally sighed. He could tell Sunggyu was being honest — there would be no pressure to follow through. Sunggyu merely expected Sungjong to remember Brussels. And of course Sungjong did.

“You’re going to tell me though, right?”

“Sure. In Tokyo.” Sunggyu reached over to pet Sungjong’s hair, and Sungjong jerked back violently, screeching.

“Hyung!”

Sunggyu’s laughter followed Sungjong as he swept indignantly back into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myungsoo didn’t expect to become obsessed with his new crew, but…once he accepted that the others weren’t just fellow criminals but were his teammates — his family — it was hard to hold back. Myungsoo never did things by halves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad guy of the day uses some nasty language and slurs to reference a crossdressing individual. Proceed at your own risk.

Myungsoo wasn’t inquisitive by nature, but he was obsessive. Whenever something caught his attention, he made it a point to learn it forwards and backwards, from top to bottom, coming and going. It was how he had mastered photography — and photo editing. How he had become fluent in Japanese despite never taking an actual class. How he had learned to build his own superior spy equipment. How he became L, Lord of the Gamer Geeks and the Land of Hackers.  
“Do you know how easy you’d have it as a grifter? You’d only have to show your gorgeous self and people will give you whatever you want,” Sungyeol often complained. “But instead you hide behind your screen name and let people think you look like Sailor Bacon.”

“It’s not like you’re ugly,” Myungsoo would always point out in reply. To Myungsoo, Sungyeol had looks perfectly suited for a grifter. He was attractive enough to instantly catch a mark’s attention, but not so attractive as to be intimidating or written off as a dumb pretty face. Sungyeol was also tall and made everything he wore look good, and best of all he smelled like sea salt and cotton. And maybe Myungsoo was a little obsessed with Sungyeol, but that was okay because they were best friends.

Myungsoo didn’t expect to become obsessed with his new crew, but…once he accepted that the others weren’t just fellow criminals but were his teammates — his family — it was hard to hold back. Myungsoo never did things by halves.

He had little personal dossiers on all of them, facts that he kept tucked away because it made him happy to know the others so well. Things like how Dongwoo preferred to wear his earbud in his right ear (Myungsoo always made sure to mark Dongwoo’s earbuds because they were ergonomically designed just for him). Things like Sungjong’s hatred of lemon candy (Myungsoo made sure lemon candy never crossed the office threshold). Things like Sunggyu’s fondness for soju (Myungsoo always kept their fridge stocked, but not too well stocked because he knew Sunggyu’s limits, too, even if Sunggyu didn’t).

He loved knowing about Hoya’s quiet passion for hip-hop and would help keep Hoya’s music library up to date. And if Hoya wondered how he’d gotten Usher’s newest album before it was released, Myungsoo would only duck behind his laptop and grin.

And Myungsoo loved Woohyun, even if Sungyeol didn’t want him to.

“He never invests any time in his characters,” Sungyeol grumbled. “He’s always just making things up on the fly. And he’s greasy and oh my god, you think he’s better than me.”

“I do not!” Myungsoo insisted in exasperation. He was helping Sungyeol create a new identity for their latest con, which had Sungyeol becoming Luna. Originally they’d asked one of their trusted grifter friends, Eunji, to help out. But Eunji had been forced to leave the country in a hurry at the last minute. So the role fell to Sungyeol.

Sungyeol looked ridiculously good in a wrap dress, with long hair and red lipstick on. Myungsoo had to lean in and sniff a few times — yep, still sea salt and cotton — just to confirm Sungyeol hadn’t actually been replaced by a woman.

“You are both really, really good and I like your style just as much as his.”

Sungyeol wrinkled his nose dismissively and didn’t bother answering. He went back to dabbing foundation on his face.

Myungsoo went back to setting up the cameras. A few minutes later, he felt something cold brush his neck and looked up sharply. Woohyun was beaming down at him, a caddy of drinks in his hand.

“I figure you guys will be all night at this, so I got you some iced coffee.” While it was clear Woohyun had brought a drink for Sungyeol too, his crooked little smile was just for Myungsoo. Myungsoo couldn’t help blushing. Out of all of them, Woohyun looked after him the best. (Even better than Sungyeol most of the time, and okay Sungyeol still held the title of best friend forever but a little show of appreciation now and then would be nice, was all.)

“Thanks, hyung.”

“Sure thing, L.” Woohyun glanced towards Sungyeol and blew him a kiss. Sungyeol resolutely continued swiping at his eyes with mascara and pretended not to notice. “I’ll see you later.”

Myungsoo tracked Woohyun’s retreating back until he was gone from the room.

“It really seems like you like him better than me.”

“I’m going to if you keep saying it,” Myungsoo huffed, shoving Sungyeol’s drink at him. That was a lie, of course. No way anyone could replace Sungyeol. But Myungsoo was just going to love Woohyun all the same.

—

Dongwoo watched as Luna floated into the ballroom, beauty and grace on two very long legs. Even if he and L hadn’t spent the past few weeks planting subliminal triggers everywhere to ensure their mark would notice Luna the minute she entered, she would have caught his attention anyway. Everyone was looking at Luna.

“Are those shrimp puffs?” Myungsoo asked over comms. Dongwoo ducked his head to hide his grin. Okay, everyone was looking at Luna except Myungsoo. “Man, I’m hungry.”

He was stuck back in the van, monitoring the feeds, and even though he was well stocked on cola and kimbap no one was surprised Myungsoo was still hungry.

“I told you to come as my date,” Sungyeol murmured, lips still curved in a coy, twinkling smile. Instead, Luna had Hoya trailing gamely behind her, the expression on his face halfway between bored and smug. “Buffet table would have been all yours.”

“L’s good where he is,” Sunggyu said firmly from wherever he was lurking. “Besides, he’s too good looking. We want the mark to think he at least has a chance of stealing you away.”

“Thanks a lot,” Hoya said flatly as he followed Luna through the crowd.

“No charge.”

“Seriously though, shrimp puffs.”

From his vantage point on the balcony, Dongwoo saw Sungjong roll his eyes and glide over to the serving table. The thief was attending as a waiter, and during the next pass he dumped a platter of shrimp puffs into his apron pockets.

“Can we focus, please? Being around all these rich nobs is making my fingers itch.”

“Then go check out the guy’s office,” Sunggyu suggested. Sungjong turned, ready to leave, then paused as a pair of glittering emerald earrings brushed past him. “Sungjong, go, go now.”

“Okay, I’m going.”

Dongwoo took that as his cue as well and started to make his way deeper into the building. He’d been playing sheepdog most of the night, making sure the mark was standing where they needed him to be. Now he was off to play guard dog.

“Hyung, ten o’clock,” L suddenly said, urgently. Dongwoo looked up and saw a petite, beautiful woman bearing down on their mark. Even with her hair dyed blonde, Dongwoo recognized her. She was competition, trouble firing on all cylinders.

“I’m not in position.”

“Woohyun?” Sunggyu snapped.

“Got it.” Woohyun stepped out smoothly and intercepted the woman before she could reach their mark. He took her gently by the arm and kissed her cheek. “Darling! You finally made it, I was starting to lose hope, you know.”

The woman’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she recovered quickly. She gave Woohyun a bright, if somewhat forced, smile. “I’m not that late, am I?”

Woohyun lowered his voice so that only the woman — and the team, of course — could hear. “Very late, Tiffany. We’re already in play.” Then louder, for the people standing nearby, “Let’s get you a drink!”

Tiffany’s smile bordered on becoming a grimace, but she didn’t make a scene as Woohyun led her away. In the meantime, Luna was approaching their mark, an introduction soft and husky dropping from her lips.

Dongwoo couldn’t help a quick grin. He loved watching his members at work. And in a few seconds, he’d get to watch Sungjong work his magic.

Through his comfy squishy earbud, Dongwoo could hear the rest of the scene play out behind him. The spilled wine, Hoya being sour and belligerent, Luna’s increasingly upset protests, the mark stepping in as a knight in shining armor…

—

“I’m pretty sure it’s a Vegas wake-up call,” Dongwoo mused over comms.

“No, in that one the hooker has a baby. This is a classic Cuban sandwich, when the hooker is dead,” Hoya replied.

Across the street, in a lovely hotel suite, Sungyeol rumbled indignantly through clenched teeth, “I’m not a hooker.”

“But you are dead, so shut up.” That was Sunggyu, and he sounded grumpier than normal. Woohyun guessed their leader hadn’t gone straight to bed after the party last night, that he’d kept company with a certain drink for a few hours more. Of course, Sunggyu was a grown man and could make his own decisions, and Woohyun trusted him with all his crooked heart. But the excessive drinking was starting to get worrisome.

Woohyun filed it away for future discussion. Right now, he had a job to finish.

He swept into the hotel room when the mark opened the door like a calm, chill wind. There was a chance the mark might have found his face familiar from the night before…if the mark hadn’t been in an absolute state of panic.

“You have to fix this. I didn’t…I don’t remember anything. We had a lot to drink and we went to bed…I think. I don’t know. But I could NOT have killed her. Him. It. Whatever!”

Woohyun spared Sungyeol’s pale, inert body a dispassionate glance before crisply covering the bed with a sheet. Then he turned to the mark, his eyes calculating and flat.

“Sir, the evidence is pretty damning. You were the last person seen with…her. If there weren’t any witnesses seeing you leave the gala together, you can bet there are cameras. And now she’s dead and you’ve called me instead of the police. The way it appears, you found out your supermodel friend was actually a he and strangled him. It’s not just a possible crime of passion, it’s a hate crime. That’s life.”

“The company told me you were the best,” the mark hurled accusingly, his fingers dragging through his tangled hair. His eyes were bloodshot and bulging, and there were dark scratch marks and bruises on his face and down his arms. “That you can fix anything.”

“I wash away the white powder and make prostitutes disappear,” Woohyun said coldly. “A dead body is a little more difficult to deal with. Especially when you’ve killed our country’s next top model.”

The mark’s upper lip curled in a desperate snarl and he shoved into Woohyun’s space. Woohyun held firm and only stared back evenly.

“I will not be ruined by some glitter covered bitch with a dick. How much will it cost to make this go away? Because I’ll pay it. Whatever. Just make it go. Away.”

Beneath the sheet, Sungyeol drew in just enough breath to mumble, “There was no fucking glitter, you asshole.”

“Yeol,” Sunggyu said warningly, his voice a low buzz in their earbuds. It was tempered by Myungsoo's giggles. Woohyun ignored them and carefully took the mark by the shoulder and turned him towards the window, away from the bed.

“I could change the circumstances,” Woohyun offered. He watched the mark latch on to his words and suppressed the urge to smile. “You were never here. You were a gentleman who saw the lady to her door and went home. Maybe you were mugged, later. That’s negotiable. And our poor unfortunate Luna took a few too many pills as a nightcap and…here we are. A maid will find her later.”

“That sounds almost plausible.”

“It’s not almost plausible,” Woohyun dropped sharply. “It’s possible. Because I can make it happen, if you’re prepared to pay.”

The mark sank into the armchair by the window, scratching absently at a scabbing wound. “I already said I would.”

Now Woohyun allowed a smile to slip through, small and slick on his lips. “Good.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You can’t go out as Luna, she’s dead,” Myungsoo pointed out as he stood. “I wrote her obituary and everything. I set up a foundation for kids with leukemia in her memory.”

“...and done.”

The last of the money transferred into their various accounts with a happy green wink from L’s phone. On the overhead screen, breaking news bulletins were cutting into regular programming to report the shocking arrest of a member of the National Assembly. Sunggyu smiled faintly and switched the TV off. Then he reached over and gave Myungsoo’s shoulder a light squeeze.

“Good job.”

Myungsoo couldn’t help doing a little happy squiggle at the compliment, much to Sunggyu’s amusement. Myungsoo just loved those little touches. When Sunggyu recruited L, the cold, ruthless, faceless shade, he didn’t know he’d actually end up with Myungsoo, warm fuzzy kitten. Not that Sunggyu minded. He got a professional when the situation required, and the rest of the time he got adorable.

He also got Lee Sungyeol because the hacker and grifter were a package deal. If he was being honest, Sunggyu hadn’t been sure about Sungyeol at first. Sungyeol just seemed so loud and variable. But over time, Sunggyu had come to respect, if not downright appreciate, the other man and his work ethic.

Even if he was often still loud and variable.

“Let’s go for beer and chicken.” Sungyeol stood, stretching his long limbs. For some reason, he was still wearing his Luna wig. The hair swished around distractingly as he twisted to kick at Myungsoo’s legs.

“You can’t go out as Luna, she’s dead,” Myungsoo pointed out as he stood. “I wrote her obituary and everything. I set up a foundation for kids with leukemia in her memory.”

“I know, it was a beautiful obituary. I almost cried.” Sungyeol grinned and grabbed Myungsoo’s arm to pull him out of the room. “Come on, you owe me a date, anyway.”

Myungsoo followed Sungyeol out without complaint. Once they were gone, Sungjong shrugged and hopped off the stool where he’d been perching.

“Well, this has been fun but I think I’m going to look into those emerald earrings.”

Sunggyu didn’t bother to warn the thief to stop or be careful. He trusted Sungjong to know better than to do anything truly dumb because deep, deep (deep, deep) down, Sunggyu knew the truth: Sungjong was a good kid.

On the other side of the room, Dongwoo and Hoya were grabbing their jackets. Dongwoo had been the only one Sunggyu hadn’t personally recruited. At the time, it wasn’t because he thought Hoya was better. It was just that he didn’t think he’d need two hitters, and Sunggyu already knew and trusted Hoya. But he was glad now to have both of them on the team. Dongwoo was water where Hoya was fire; they were a matched set and Sunggyu couldn’t imagine pulling off the jobs they did without either of them.

“Don’t you have a date with Amy tonight, hyung?” Hoya was asking.

“Yep, I’m thinking of taking her someplace really nice to celebrate.” Dongwoo nodded but glanced towards Sunggyu, almost like he was requesting permission. Out of all of them, Dongwoo was the most formal and respectful, and it was sort of touching that he cared what Sunggyu thought. Of course, Dongwoo didn’t really need Sunggyu’s approval. Dongwoo was an adult (and okay, Sunggyu had already had Myungsoo run a full background check on Amy just in case).

“Have fun,” Sunggyu called, waving lazily at them as he slumped deeper into the couch. “And Howon-ah, please don’t use your share to buy any more swords. We’re running out of storage in here.”

“I have my own storage,” Hoya snarked back before ducking out. Dongwoo laughed and escaped after him, leaving Sunggyu alone with Woohyun.

Woohyun rolled off the armchair he’d been lounging in and flopped next to Sunggyu on the couch instead. Before Sunggyu could work up the energy to groan in protest, Sungyeol popped back in the doorway. His dead model makeup had been touched up so he looked pale and mysterious and less like a cadaver.

“Hey...you guys want to come with us?” He spoke to both of them but his eyes cut awkwardly to Woohyun. Clearly this was a peace offering of some sort.

“Thanks, but we’re good,” Woohyun took the liberty of answering for Sunggyu as well.

“Okay, bye.” Sungyeol didn’t bother to hide his relief at the response and vanished with a flip of his hair.

“What if I’d wanted some chicken and beer?” Sunggyu grumbled, shooting Woohyun a cross look. Woohyun rolled into Sunggyu until his body was plastered to Sunggyu’s side.

“Haven’t you had enough to drink this week?” Woohyun said softly, his cheek pressed against Sunggyu’s shoulder.

“Myungsoo buys the soju.”

“Gyu-hyung.”

Sunggyu sighed, tilting his head back so he could stare at the ceiling. “And I bought the vodka.”

He didn’t normally drink quite so much. It just happened that the anniversary of his father’s death had just passed, his mother’s was coming up and his sister had called to give her annual reminder that he’d been the one to turn his back on Dad when Mom begged him not to so everything that followed was still entirely his fault. Anyone who said you couldn’t die from grief was a liar because his entire family had.

And Woohyun knew that. He might not completely understand how Sunggyu felt — Woohyun had never been unloved a day in his life — but it was enough that he stuck around anyway. He was the first one Sunggyu had recruited, the one Sunggyu trusted with all of his secrets.

“If you need something to distract you, I’m right here.” He burrowed in closer until Sunggyu shifted his arm to wrap around Woohyun. Woohyun was solid and soft and a better warmth than the burn of alcohol. Sunggyu turned his head so he could kiss the top of Woohyun’s head.

“I want to take a nap.”

Woohyun snorted and elbowed him none too gently in the ribs as he settled in. “My youth is wasted on you.”

“But I’ll still love you when you’re old and wrinkly and gross.”

Sunggyu felt, more than saw, Woohyun smile at the word ‘love.’

“Aww, Gyu, when you talk like that it makes me want to go steal the whole world for you.”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and tucked Woohyun against him. “Shh. It’s nap time.”


End file.
